McCain says he won't delay further on Hagel

US SENATOR John McCain, who has been a vocal opponent of former senator Chuck Hagel's nomination as defence secretary, now says he won't delay a vote any further.

''We will have a vote when we get back'' from this week's break, the Arizona Republican said on NBC's Meet the Press program. ''I'm confident [former] senator Hagel will probably have the votes necessary.''

Senator McCain is a senior member of the armed services committee, which on a party-line vote last week sent the nomination to the full Senate for confirmation. He said the vote on Mr Hagel would be held even though he thinks the Nebraska Republican's views are ''far to the left'' of the mainstream and that his former colleague hasn't explained his policy ideas well enough.

Senate Democrats have scheduled a vote on the nomination for February 26. Republicans blocked a vote on Thursday, the first time the minority party has threatened to filibuster a nominee to head the Pentagon, because there hadn't been enough time for the White House to answer questions about the September 11, 2012, attack on the US mission in Benghazi, Libya, Senator McCain said.

Mr Hagel, 66, who served two terms in the Senate, has faced challenges from members of his own party because of his past opposition to unilateral sanctions against Iran, his comment in 2006 about the influence of what he once called ''the Jewish lobby'' and his statements against the US troop build-up in 2007 that hastened the end of the Iraq war.

Even as Senator McCain predicted Mr Hagel's confirmation, Republican senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina stepped up his criticism of the nominee. ''You're talking about a person whose voting record shows softness on Iran and antagonism towards Israel beyond belief,'' he said on Fox News. ''He'd be the most antagonistic senator towards the state of Israel in history.''

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